What's all this about a new shell?

Here is a picture of the new "full" shell at Chenery Auditorium, where I work. Its installation was accepted as complete on Wednesday, April 9. We invited the WMU orchestra in to test the sound. We also tested it with the Kalamazoo Singers, a 40-voice adult choir, in the "intermediate"--or two-thirds--setup, and had a violin soloist, a cello soloist, and a piano soloist also try out the "short" shell.
What's the big deal? What's the difference? Well, the bigest difference is in the sound, but even the look is impressive. The picture on the left is the old "full" shell (meaning full stage size). On the right is the new shell set up in the modified "short" shell, which has been chosen as the appropriate setup for a solo piano.

The biggest difference you can see is the height of the new one--it is nine feet taller than the old one, and really makes the stage feel more like part of the room than the shorter one does. What you can't see from the pictures is that the new shell is about three time the weight of the old one, with walls 2-1/2 inches thick, compared to the old one with walls just 1/4 inch thick. The back wall of the new shell weighs over 9,000 pounds, compared to 2,800 pounds of the old one.

The weight and density provide noticeably greater reflection of sound over the entire spectum, but especially of the bass range. The fewer, wider curves of the new walls and ceiling also reduce multiple reflections, and therefore make the sound crisper and more intelligible.

Tomorrow (4/12) will be the first public perfomance in the new shell, being debuted by the Kalamazoo Concert Band.

Isn't this just so exciting?

Need: Prayer For A Friend

I learned today that a friend and business associate of mine, Kevin Brown, was seriously injured yesterday (Monday) while painting his loft apartment. Kevin owns a commercial recording studio in town and has made numerous live recordings at Chenery Auditorium for both local and national artists. He is also a strong Christian and often serves as a worship leader at Kalamazoo Community Church. This is the report on Kevin:

Kevin was seriously hurt Monday afternoon while he and his wife Debbie were painting inside their apartment. He was standing on top of a platform approximately 9 feet high when somehow he lost his footing and fell onto the concrete floor.

Debbie immediately called 911 and within moments he was in the hands of professionals both in the ambulance and at Bronson Hospital. We would soon learn that he had sustained multiple injuries: a fractured skull, bleeding in the brain (hematoma), broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

Because of the severity of his injuries, Kevin was put into a coma-like state as well as on a ventilator. Later in the evening, doctors removed the fractured areas of his skull as well as successfully stopping the bleeding (in 3 different areas of his brain).

The next few weeks will be critical as doctors monitor the swelling in his brain, hoping that more surgery can be avoided. The situation is indeed grave.

The Brown family has created a CaringBridge site at: caringbridge.org/visit/kevinbrown if you would like more information or would care to write a note of encouragement to Debbie.
-Ray

Wow, am I good at blogging, or what? Oh, I'm supposed to write something now and then? What can I say? Life has been busy. After I got home from Phoenix, March seemed to fly by. The first half of March was busy with auditorium programs, especially due to the Kalamazoo Symphony's week of Youth Concerts for school kids.

On March 15, we had a "classical" concert of Bach music--all by about 200 elementary students. Different school groups did different things; some sang, some danced, some beat on PVC pipes cut to tuned lengths with thong sandals. What was really fun about this was that James was in it with a group of other 5th graders from his school, and they played a Bach tune on recorders. All the students wore white shirts with black pants and long white socks, with the pants rolled up to just below the knee to look like knickers, and to top it off (literally), they all wore white wigs. If I was a good, experienced blogger, or even a normal dad, I'd be showing you a picture of James all dressed up like Bach. Oh, well.

The next day, March 16, we had an afternoon choral concert. Immediately after the concert, we tore apart (okay, "dismantled") our old acoustical shell (old as in, installed in 1992). We're replacing it with one bigger and better, and of course, much more expensive. This, along with air conditioning the auditorium for the first time, is the first phase of a $7.4 million renovation that will continue through this year. So, the last three weeks have been tied up with contractors installing the new shell. They are still working on it, and it should be complete by Monday morning (4/7). Its first use will be Saturday, 4/12.

Right now I need to get to James' school conference. See you later.